Dogs' brain scans reveal vocal responses

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC World Service

Pet dogs took part in the MRI scanning study Devoted dog owners o ten clai! that their pets understand the!" # new study suggests they could be right" By placing dogs in an MRI scanner, researchers ro! $ungary ound that the canine brain reacts to voices in the sa!e way that the hu!an brain does" %!otionally charged sounds, such as crying or laughter, also pro!pted si!ilar responses, perhaps e&plaining why dogs are attuned to hu!an e!otions" 'he work is published in the (ournal Current Biology"

)ead author #ttila #ndics, ro! the $ungarian #cade!y o Science*s %otvos )orand +niversity in Budapest, said, -We think dogs and hu!ans have a very si!ilar !echanis! to process e!otional in or!ation"%leven pet dogs took part in the study. training the! took so!e ti!e" -We used positive rein orce!ent strategies / lots o praise,- said Dr #ndics" -'here were 01 sessions o preparatory training, then seven sessions in the scanner roo!, then these dogs were able to lie !otionless or as long as eight !inutes" 2nce they were trained, they were so happy, I wouldn*t have believed it i I didn*t see it"-

'he canine brain reacted to voices in the sa!e way that the hu!an brain does 3or co!parison, the tea! looked at the brains o 11 hu!an volunteers in the sa!e MRI scanners" 'he scientists played the people and pooches 144 di erent sounds, ranging ro! environ!ental noises, such as car sounds and whistles, to hu!an sounds 5but not words6 and dog vocalisations"

It is the irst ti!e we have seen this in a non/pri!ate7

'he researchers ound that a si!ilar region / the te!poral pole, which is the !ost anterior part o the te!poral lobe / was activated when both the ani!als and people heard hu!an voices" -We do know there are voice areas in hu!ans, areas that respond !ore strongly to hu!an sounds that any other types o sounds,- Dr #ndics e&plained" -'he location 5o the activity6 in the dog brain is very si!ilar to where we ound it in the hu!an brain" 'he act that we ound these areas e&ist at all in the dog brain at all is a surprise / it is the irst ti!e we have seen this in a non/pri!ate"-

'he tea! used a variety o techni8ues to train the dogs %!otional sounds, such as crying and laughter also had a si!ilar pattern o activity, with an area near the pri!ary auditory corte& lighting up in dogs and hu!ans" )ikewise, e!otionally charged dog vocalisations / such as whi!pering or angry barking / also caused a si!ilar reaction in all volunteers, Dr #ndics said, -We know very well that dogs are very good at tuning into the eelings o their owners, and we know a good dog owner can detect e!otional changes in his dog / but we now begin to understand why this can be"$owever, while the dogs responded to the hu!an voice, their reactions were ar stronger when it ca!e to canine sounds"

It would be interesting to see the ani!al*s response to words rather than (ust sounds7 Pro Sophie Scott +C) 'hey also see!ed less able to distinguish between environ!ental sounds and vocal noises co!pared with hu!ans" #bout hal o the whole auditory corte& lit up in dogs when listening to these noises, co!pared with 9: o the sa!e area in hu!ans" Co!!enting on the research, Pro Sophie Scott, ro! the Institute o Cognitive ;euroscience at +niversity College )ondon, said, -3inding so!ething like this in a pri!ate brain isn*t too surprising / but it is 8uite so!ething to de!onstrate it in dogs" -Dogs are a very interesting ani!al to look at / we have selected or a lot o traits in dogs that have !ade the! very a!enable to hu!ans" So!e studies have show they understand a lot o words and they understand intentionali